Author: John Hennessy

We had a visitor in the Gunnamatta Pool courtesy of a very high tide last week. Ray was spooking quiet a few people due to his size. he liked to swim laps of the pool in the early hours looking for the EXIT sign. Sutherland Council arranged for contractors to remove Ray from the pool enclosure. After one unsuccessful attempt hindered by a crowd of schoolchildren on an excursion, an early morning exercise by the contractors rounded him up and managed to guide him back out of the pool area.

Club races were actually held today after 2 weeks of cancellations due to weather.

A good turnout of 44 swimmers ,who braved a chilly southerly wind which made swimming conditions a little tricky.

There were 2 trophy events on the day.Reece Chambers sponsored the 100M with the winner being closest to handicap time.

In a display of precision swimming Ingrid Moon was 0.01 secs from her time to be the winner.

The 200M was sponsored by Gary Ballard with a prize for Female and Male winners.

Lisa Hedge took out the female award and Steve Murray won the male prize.

Well done to our winners on the day.A big Christmas wrap up next Sunday with some special catering to be provided.

Blustery southwest winds made for an uncomfortable morning, but we still had 40 hardy swimmers register.

Feature event the Les Cavanagh Memorial 50M Freestyle. Congratulations to Ian Bourke who managed only .5 sec from his time when most swimmers were well over due to the conditions.

Our reigning Club Champions , Lisa and Steve, have been proudly displaying their magnificent backpacks they received for their achievement. Our Awards night for last year finally gets off the ground( we hope) on December 1st.

A great morning for swimming with a high tide and little breeze. 50 swimmers registered and the feature event was the Barry Whitney memorial 50M freestyle which was sponsored by Don Saunders. John Irvine was the winner swimming .04sec from his time.

There was a birthday cake and celebrations for Rod Garland, Jenny Falson, and Barbara Murphy. A special congratulations to Barbara Murphy who recently hit the 90 Year mark. Barbara is an outstanding example of how swimming provides health benefits beside enjoyment.

And finally Steve Murray has set the swim fashion stakes high with a display of sartorial elegance and superb colour co-ordination.

I am just trying to blend in.

A great start to the Sunday swim program for 2021-22 season. The weekly prize event was the Captains Trophy 400M Freestyle with the prize going to closest to their time.

Captain Lisa sponsored this event and congratulations to the winner Steve Murray who was a fraction of a second off his time.

We also acknowledged that Paul Cavanagh has commenced his 43rd season at our club. Paul has served on many committee positions over the years and still does today. Congratulations Paul on a magnificent achievement of service to the club.

The Summer season has officially commenced with the Greys completing their Wednesday program on 20th October. Good conditions and great swimming.

Superb conditions today for a special ANZAC DAY swim, which is also our closing Sunday meeting for the Summer Season.

Proceedings commenced with an ANZAC ceremony with the Ode and a minutes silence.

Gary Ballard was belatedly presented with the Iron Person Trophy from last week.

3 prizes offered today for the annual

1000M freestyle (sponsored by Ann and Eric Wood),

100M Freestyle(Cheryl and Peter Poppett) and the

50M Freestyle(Geoff Armstrong).

Winners were Dave Dopson (1000M), John Irvine(M) and Joyce Grounds(F) in the 100M, and Kylie Mulholland(F) and Steve Murray(M) in the 50M.

The 1000M also had prizes for 2nd and 3rd, winners Elizabeth Whitcombe and Joan Harper.

Congratulations to our winners on the day. Well Done.

Captain Lisa also conducted a ceremonial destruction of Bill Jury’s wetsuit in the interest of public health.

Winter swimming commences next Sunday at Cronulla Beach.

Register times from 8.30am and swim commences at 9.00am

Today we had smooth conditions and a good size attendance.

The annual IronPerson event was held which involves two swim legs with a run down the sand flats sandwiched between. Congratulations to Kylie Mulholland who finished closest to her nominated time. Gary Ballard was first across the line with Captain Lisa second. Ingrid Moon suffered a nasty Jimbel(jellyfish) sting, but was able to complete the event.

The trophy event was the 100M Freestyle sponsored by Jenny Falson and Denny Ford. Winners were Lesley Woodland(F) and Steve Murray(M) who managed to swim 111 metres in a 100M event.

Final Summer Sunday swim next Sunday which is also Anzac Day.

Bluebottles are the duty team.

Sunday April 11 presented a strong icy cold south-west wind, which tested the resilience of our hardy swimmers. There was only one break on the day, John Irvine, who dazzled them in the 100M Freestyle.

The schedule had 2 prize events. The Jack Kirkland 400M Freestyle with the prize going to the swimmer closest to tag time. Winner was Paul Cavanagh.

The 2nd event was the John Suann 100M Freestyle which was also for the swimmer closest to their time. Winners were Lisa Hedge(F) and Gordon Williams(M).

Well done to our winners and all swimmers who braved the elements. Only 2 more Sunday swims in the Summer Season.

First swim at the bay for over a month and conditions were perfect, except for the low tide which meant a long climb down to the blocks.

Feature race was the Joyce Grounds/Elizabeth Whitcombe 400M.

The prize was for swimmers nearest to the break(8 secs). John Hennessy keenly assisted the Race Secretary compiling results for the first time and Surprise Surprise, he is the winner of the Male event. Kylie Mulholland was the clear winner of the Female prize.

Monthly prizes for poinstscores went to Ingrid Moon and Steve Murray. Only 3 more Sunday swims left in our Summer Season.

Only 3 Sunday swims left for our Summer Season.